Top Adams Aide Accepted Diamond Earrings​ As Bribe, Prosecutors Say

NEW YORK CITY — Ingrid Lewis-Martin, a former top aide to Mayor Eric Adams, has been accused of accepting diamond earrings as a bribe from real estate developers in an effort to speed up their own construction projects.

Court documents released by prosecutors disclosed new details on one of the bribery schemes involving Lewis-Martin, Raizada Vaid and Mayank Dwivedi, which dates back to 2022.

WhatsApp messages obtained by prosecutors found that Lewis-Martin was given a set of 2-carat diamond earrings worth around $3,000 from the developers as a "gift."

Lewis-Martin then used her position to try to expedite approvals for the developers’ projects, which included pressuring the acting commissioner of the Department of Buildings to approve renovation plans for a hotel owned by Vlad.

Lewis-Martin told DOB commissioner, Kazimir Vilenchik, that she needed "move this forward."

Vilenchik emailed the Manhattan Borough Commissioner at DOB and told them that a “new examiner” needed to be assigned.

Permits for the Glass Ceiling, a rooftop bar, and the Rivington Hotel were later both approved.

Prosecutors revealed that after city regulators agreed to the approvals, Lewis-Martin texted her son Glenn Martin II and told him that Vaid would have him “completely covered" — and help him open a Chick-fil-A franchise, among other requests.

"Your fashion line is 100 percent,” she wrote.

In Dec. 2024, Lewis-Martin was indicted and accused of taking bribes and money laundering along with her son.

Lewis-Martin and her son accepted more than $100,000 in cash and benefits as part of a long-running bribery, money laundering, and conspiracy scheme, according to an unsealed indictment.

The former aide made attempts to cover up the alleged conspiracy by asking the participants to join Signal, a third party encrypted messaging app.

She allegedly laundered the bribes by funneling the money through her son's accounts, according to prosecutors.